Hi everyone.. just bought myself a subaru impreza bugeye wagon WRX 2002 a few weeks ago. it just done 50k with full subaru history and it never been modified or raced. it has been really good on the road and i keep an eye on all the levels everyweek. the timing belt has been done on it on the last service at 48k. The things that is worring me a bit are 2 things:-

about a week ago it was really hot and sunny and i got in the car as normal. and drove off. after about 5 minutes of driving i got stuck in traffic and suddenly i saw a little bit of smoke (or what looked like smoke) coming from the bonnet vent. i stopped thinking the car was on fire. when i popped the bonnet the smoke was coming from under the shield on top of the turbo(no smoke from the exhaust though). it only happened for about 10 or 15 minutes and it never happened again.

the second thing is that from time to time when i sit in traffic or i idle the car before i drive off (it can be anything in the morning or at night never has a pattern) and the car rocks from side to side. not major that u notice it from the outside but you feel the movment slightly inside the car. Now i dont know if the got anything to do with being a boxer engine (sorry i only driven FWD before in my life) or there is something going on with the engine. when it happens i look out for the revs of the engine but nothing changed not even the sound of it.

can anyone help with this? or is it something normal and i am just a bit paraniod?

 

the smoke was probably a bit of oil/lubricant burning off the turbo nothing to worry about if its stopped

 

no it stopped now but i do keep an eye on it and also on the oil level as well..

 

The turbo side of the 2l engine is a bit notorious for oil leaks as far as I'm aware, like mentioned it'll be a little leak burning off on the exhaust i would think! Nothing too serious!

As for the rocking, i do believe it's a trait of the boxer engine, mine purrs and every 3 or 4 second gives a gentle sideways motion like you mention, very subtle though I'm not worried about mine doing it! And if i though it was a problem I'd have had it looked at

 

thanks for your advice. do u think i should have the oil leak looked at if there is any? the car is under warranty so i would not have any problems getting it sorted by the garage before the warranty runs out???? checked the oil levels and they look topped up as they were last week....

 

yeah sure if it's under warranty My mate has had a small leak since he got his 94 WRX, very minor, and he's had it 6 years now! It has gotten to the point where he's thinking about ways to resolve it, so yeah no big worries mate and take it to the place you got it and just ask them to have a look if it's under warranty, they might not even find a leak

 

thanks for the help guys... i keep an eye on engine and the oil level but i been in traffic all day yesterday in the sun a day and it did not smoke at all.

 

I'd put it down to a freak drip of something then mate, and forget about it! If there is no obvious signs of fresh oil in the engine bay and it's not smoking then enjoy the car 8)